Jail fail, again

End prosecution of trace drug crimes.

Copyright 2013: Houston Chronicle

Updated 6:31 pm, Sunday, October 6, 2013

Sometimes crime pays. In the case of Harris County, it pays Louisiana.

After an effort from Sheriff Adrian Garcia and former District Attorney Pat Lykos to bring the county's jail population in line, it looks like things are out of hand again. Jail overcrowding means that taxpayers have to cut a check to other states to hold our prisoners. It also means temporary beds for prisoners and a tougher job for guards. We've avoided overcrowding for two years, but it has returned. This isn't because of rising crime or reduced space. Rather, it is the direct result of policy decisions in the District Attorney's Office to prosecute trace drug cases. In trace cases, suspects are charged for possession of 1/100th of a gram of an illegal drug - a trace amount so small that it can't be independently tested by both the prosecution and defense. When she was district attorney, Lykos ended this waste of time and resources, and instead treated those cases as misdemeanors. The change was praised by judges and prosecutors, who had complained for years that trace cases overloaded their dockets.

But when he defeated Lykos, Mike Anderson again started prosecuting trace cases. After that change, he sent 603 more state jail felons to county jail than the previous year. And again, our county jail is overcrowded.

The threat of sending tax dollars to Louisiana should be incentive enough for our new district attorney, Devon Anderson, to return to Lykos' successful policy. Unfortunately, Anderson has said that she intends to continue in the steps of her late husband.

Harris County Jail in effect serves as Texas' largest mental health facility. It shouldn't also have to serve as a drug rehab center. Let's save jail space for people who are actually a threat to society, instead of filling it with addicts. Our criminal justice system should punish serious criminals, not people who need help. Harris County needs a policy that will save dollars, and make sense.